1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to garments that are used to secure and carry balls such as in the games of tennis and golf wherein the balls should be readily accessible and yet not protrude in a manner that might limit the necessary motions of the player. Especially in the game of tennis, while serving, it is desirable to carry at least two balls in addition to a first ball held by hand. Frequently, a service may use two balls, but often may require three when considering “net,” “out,” and “let” balls. Of course more than three balls may be needed in a given service, but this is less common. It is therefore desirable to maintain concentration by having additional balls immediately handy. Therefore, the balls should be carried by the garment and yet remain accessible but not physically intrusive on body and arm motions during play. Such garments may include tennis clothing, belts, vests and other solutions.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Previdi, U.S. Pat. No. 2,508,190, discloses a belt having an outer pocket formed of adjacent front and rear walls with the front wall formed with a horizontal elongated pocket opening closed by a slide fastener, an inner pocket for golf balls within the outer pocket, comprising a back piece of material secured along its top edge to the inside face of the front wall of the outer pocket above the pocket opening to depend across the pocket opening with the outer pocket, and a front piece of material secured along its side and bottom edges to the face of the back piece of material adjacent the inner face of the front wall of the outer pocket, the front piece of material being of less height than the back piece of material and secured to the back piece so as to have its top edge normally below the pocket opening of the outer pocket, the inner pocket being of a width less than the length of the pocket opening and secured to the inside face of the front wall of the outer pocket midway of the length of the pocket opening, whereby when the pocket opening is open the inner pocket while containing golf balls may be drawn through the pocket opening to depend along the out face of the front wall of the outer pocket facilitating insertion and removal of the golf balls from the inner pocket.
Green, U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,030, discloses a woman's tennis panty which is provided with quick access pockets adjacent the leg passages in the panty, each pocket constructed to securely hold an object, such as a tennis ball, in such a manner that it will not impede the movement of the wearer, nor be ejected by body movements of the wearer of the garment.
Sica, U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,871, discloses a belt-type garment for carrying tennis balls and the like. A belt portion has front and rear surfaces and devices thereon for removably fastening the belt portion around the waist of a wearer. A longitudinally extending pocket portion is provided for carrying at least one of the balls and has front and rear sections joined at the bottoms and sides thereof to define a generally U-shaped, transverse, cross-sectional configuration. The top of the rear section is secured to the rear surface of the belt portion in a pleated arrangement for defining a plurality of successive pleats extending downwardly therefrom. An elongate elastic strip is secured in the stretched condition to the top of the front section of the pocket portion for defining, when the elastic strip is relaxed, a plurality of successive gathers extending downwardly from the top of the front section. The pleats in the rear section of the pocket portion will reduce the bulk of the pocket portion between the rear surface of the belt portion and the wearer. The gathers in the front section of the pocket portion and the elastic strip secured to the top thereof will allow an evenly distributed expansion of the top of the front section of the pocket portion for ease in insertion and removal of the ball and for holding the ball in the pocket portion. The pleats in the rear section and the gathers in the front section of the pocket portion will provide for expansion thereof for containing the ball.
Carini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,762, discloses a game ball holder for holding a ball, such as a tennis ball, on a garment. The holder includes two elongate strips of elastic material arranged side by side with one lateral edge of one strip adjacent to one lateral edge of the other. The adjacent lateral edges are joined together along a prescribed length from each end and un-joined for a prescribed length midway between the ends. The strips are either attached directly to a garment or attached to a base of cloth material which, in turn, is attached to the garment.
Daniels, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,404, discloses a belt type garment for carrying tennis balls and the like that comprises a belt portion having on one extremity devices thereon for removably fastening the belt portion around the waist of the wearer. A tubular section for carrying at least one of the balls has its longitudinal seam secured to the rear surface of the belt such that the belt passes through the tubular section longitudinally at the inner circumference. At opposite extremities of the tubular section, symmetrical orifices with throats constricted transversely to the tubular axis by elongate elastic strips which are secured to the inner circumference at each throat station in the stretched condition such that when the elastic is relaxed, a plurality of successive gathers extends circumferentially at each throat forming between them the storage compartment and adjacently an infundibuliform orifice with a forward facing semi-elliptical perimeter. The elastically constricted throats allow for ease of insertion and removal of the balls while at the same time providing a secure compartment for retaining the balls during play.
Liberboim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,803, discloses a tennis ball holder belt having suitable fasteners to connect the belt on a tennis player and the belt having at least two ball holder panels attached thereto. The panels can be either permanently sewn to the belt or be temporarily affixed by means of snaps or other fasteners. Each panel has pockets for holding at least six tennis balls. In the conventional pocket arrangement, each panel has three upwardly facing pockets and three downwardly facing pockets. Alternatively, elastic strips attached to the panels are used as pockets, preferably with reticulated polymer surface therein to assist in retaining the tennis balls within the elastic pocket.
Richter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,441, discloses a sport garment for women that has an outer side and an inner side and comprises a fabric piece having a maximum dimension perpendicular to a centerline, an upper edge extending both ways therefrom from a first garment end to a second garment end, a lower edge including a curved central portion defining a central garment portion symmetrical with respect to the centerline and having a center of curvature above the lower edge and first and second end portions extending from the central portion to the first and second garment ends and defining first and second garment end portions, respectively, first and second pockets, each sized to receive a plurality of tennis balls, on the central portion on the outer side of the garment and symmetrical with respect to the centerline. Each pocket has an opening facing the upper edge. The garment end portions are releasably joinable about a wearer's waist with the inner side confronting the wearer's body. The garment may be worn with the central portion on that hip of the wearer selected by the wearer so that one of the pockets is on the front of the wearer's body and accessible to the hand of the wearer selected by the wearer.
Ascarrunz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,107, discloses a device that can be carried by a tennis player, which allows the player to easily store and receive tennis balls. The device includes a substantially rigid tubular member whose inside closely surrounds a standard size tennis ball, and which has a wide slot at one side through which a tennis ball can pass when resiliently deformed. With the tubular member at the player's back at waist level, the player can place a ball anywhere against the slot and press the ball through the slot into the tubular member, or reach through the slot to grasp a ball and pull it out through the slot or through an open end of the tubular member.
Salamone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,386, discloses a tennis skirt having a pocket hidden within a pleated, partially tacked down, knife edge tennis skirt. The pocket is hidden within the upper, tacked down portion of the pleat. Due to the unique manufacturing process of the present invention, the resulting tennis skirt provides a hidden pocket which is rugged in construction and can attractively hold tennis balls, keys and other items, without detracting from the continuous cascading pleated look of the tennis skirt. In addition a step-by-step method of manufacturing a garment, specifically a tennis skirt having a tacked down knife edge pleats with a hidden pocket is also disclosed.
Hans, U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,679, discloses a pair of athletic pants having a front panel, a back panel attached to the front panel and a pocket attached to the back panel. The pocket has an inner layer and an outer layer, the inner layer being composed of mesh. In a preferred embodiment, the outer layer is also composed of mesh.
Hans, U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,777, discloses a single layer pocket in which left edge portion and right edge portion of the single layer are spaced apart from the left edge portion and right edge portion of the back panel. The pocket is equipped with a flexibly rigid curvilinear shaped rib element affixed vertically to the pocket, and a similar rib element that extends laterally across the pocket.
Davitt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,445, discloses an adaptive undergarment for persons with specialized urological needs. The adaptive undergarment provides an elongate pocket for storing specialized urological articles. The elongate pocket is located preferably in a parallel spaced relationship with the waistband of the user's undergarment. The adaptive undergarment may have an additional pocket elsewhere on the undergarment for storing items such as antibacterial wipes. Each pocket is open at one edge to receive and provide access to the stored items. Any type of undergarment conforming to any user's specialized urological needs is adaptable into this adaptive undergarment.
Black, U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,446, discloses a women's undergarment that includes a fabric body having a back, a front, side portions connecting the front and the back, a top, a bottom and a crotch. A waistband is secured to the top of the fabric body, and leg openings are provided at the bottom of the fabric body separated by the crotch. Pocket structure is connected to and coextensive with the side portions of the fabric body. The pocket structure has side edges attached to a bottom edge and a top edge. Either the top edge or the bottom edge is open. The pocket structure is sized and shaped to receive a women's sanitary pad through the open edge.
Rabinowicz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,940, discloses a tennis vest that is formed from a circularly knit fabric tube having an extended turned welt at a bottom region of the vest to form outer and inner plies. The plies are sewn together along longitudinal lines to form two pockets. A pair of openings are knitted into the outer ply, each opening associated with one pocket. The pockets and openings are sized to accommodate a tennis ball in each pocket. The pockets are preferably located on a rear side of the garment.
The related art described above discloses several solutions to the need for carrying more than one ball in the game of tennis. Several approaches are suggested. One approach is to provide a belt with pockets that may be strapped around the waist. This solutions is bulky and unsightly. A second approach is to provide pockets in standard garments worn during play. Liberboim U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,803 teaches the use of pockets that may be loaded from above, and also pockets that may be loaded from below; both pockets having an elastic pocket opening that prevents a ball from leaving the pocket until manually removed. However, standard pockets suffer from the problem that the ball must be retrieved from the pocket's one opening, and this may be difficult when the pocket is located behind the back; for instance, in trying to lift a ball up and out of the pocket by bending the arm behind the back with bent elbow and arm extending across the back. Frequently there is aggressive engagement between the fabric of the pocket and the fuzzy cover of the ball so that upon attempting to retrieve the ball, the pocket may attempt to hold the ball back or turn inside-out. Of particular interest is Carini U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,762 which teaches the use of dual elastic straps for capturing a tennis ball. However, Carini fails to teach how the ball may be absolutely secured since the positions of the straps are critical to the balls' securement. With one of the straps positioned too high or too low, the ball may be easily jarred loose. With the straps spread too far apart, the ball may squeeze through them. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.